A Year in Transition follows a 20-year-old Arab-American transgender man in his first year of transition as he comes out, begins taking hormones, goes through gender affirmation surgery, and finds his own place in the trans community. The film is based out of Ypsilanti, MI and includes other transmasculine people in the Metro Detroit area. A Year in Transition is unique in that it shows a positive story of transition and has a transgender director at the helm.

Issa Ismail is the main subject with his friend Lorne Clarkson as the film director. They were introduced through their mutual therapist Dr. Dalton Conally. Within 15 minutes of their first meeting they had decided to make a film together. They wanted to create a film for the trans community that they both wished they had access to when first coming out and navigating emotional complexities of transitioning. They both had a mutual understanding of where this project was headed and what it would mean for the transgender community.